Paula and John Kalaman’s son, Centerville Police Officer John P. Kalaman, was killed in 1998 while as he and other first responders were working at an accident on I-675. CONTRIBUTED / COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER

Twenty years later: remembering highway accident that killed two first responders

John and Paula Kalaman left flowers on their son’s headstone at David’s Cemetery in Kettering this morning on the anniversary of his death.

While visiting the cemetery, they discovered a bouquet of flowers left by an anonymous person and a wreath left by the Centerville Police Dept.

“That makes us feel good,” said John Kalaman. “It’s heartwarming to see that he has not been forgotten.”

Twenty-years ago, two Miami Valley first responders were killed in the line of duty responding to an accident on an ice-covered highway.

Washington Twp Firefighter Robert J. O'Toole

In the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 1998, Centerville Police Officer John Kalaman, 29, and Washington Twp. Firefighter Robert O’Toole, 26, responded to a single-car accident on I-675 at Wilmington Pike along with firefighter Charles Arnold.

While investigating the scene on the highway, the three men were struck by a car whose driver lost control while speeding on the slick roadway.

Officer Kalaman, a five-year police department veteran, was killed at the scene. Firefighter O’Toole, who had been with the department for four years, died at Miami Valley Hospital. Arnold, who was seriously injured, survived.

The tragedy rocked the community. Kalaman was the first police officer Centerville had lost in the line of duty, and Washington Twp. had not lost a firefighter since 1955.

Centerville Police Officer John P. Kalaman

“It’s been a tough road from time to time,” said John Kalaman, remembering his son. “But it’s important for the community to understand that the person behind the badge and riding in that police vehicle has got parents, maybe a spouse, maybe children. He has people who care about him.”

The memories of the two men, whose careers were dedicated to caring for others, lives on today.

There have been $256,000 in scholarships awarded to 51 high school students in the past 20 years, according to Kalaman. He said the scholarships are an investment in the future. “It’s important to make John’s death meaningful and to have something good come out of tragedy,” he said.

To help ensure law enforcements officers would be safer while on the job, the Kalamans were instrumental in the enactment of the Move Over Law in Ohio, which requires drivers to move for stopped emergency and public service vehicles with lights flashing, and slow down if they can’t move over.